Instruction

Professional Development Plan 2018-19

Goal 1: New Staff Induction

Objective: All new teachers and teaching assistants will be afforded three years of mandatory training and further opportunities to become acquainted with the district, learn of our expectations for teacher/employee success, build teaching differentiation strategies, learn educational technological advancements, improve pedagogical skills, and meet with a mentor.

Activities and Strategies

New Teacher Training (Year 1) — All teachers and teaching assistants new to our school district will attend 45 hours of training in August prior to beginning the new school year. The week will cover district expectations, teaching strategies and skills, introduction to the administrators and buildings, technology updates, meeting with a mentor, community involvement, emergency and safety protocols, and more.

New Teacher Training (Year 2) — All teachers and teaching assistants who have successfully completed the first year in the district will receive 45 hours of differentiated instruction training to meet student needs.

New Teacher Training (Year 3) — All teachers and teaching assistants who have successfully completed two years in the district will receive 45 hours of training in personalized learning and technology integration.

Further, all first-year teachers and teaching assistants will be assigned 45 hours of job-embedded mentoring by a veteran staff member of a like job description.

Goal 2: Working Successfully with English Language Learners

Objective:

All staff members will be updated on the status of our ENL population through building meetings.

Teachers who have ENL students in their classroom will be afforded time with an ENL teacher to plan teaching strategies and discuss how to best meet the student(s) needs.

Professional development opportunities which address ENL student needs will be available for all staff members to attend.

All ENL teachers will have many opportunities to attend: RBERN professional development offerings, regional meetings with TESOLs, and other conferences to enhance their pedagogical skills in relation to ENL students.

Activities and Strategies:

All staff members will attend a building level faculty meeting at which information on the current status of our ENL population will be explained and discussed. Teaching strategies for ENL students will be offered. Staff will be given time to ask questions.

Classroom teachers will have time to meet with the TESOLs to discuss individual student needs. TESOLs will also push in to co-teach with the classroom teacher. TESOLs will be available to offer teaching strategies for ENL students.

TESOLs will offer beyond school hour trainings to further develop plans and strategies to best meet the needs of our ENL students.

All TESOLs will be given guidance and availability to attend all current RBERN professional development offerings and the ability to join regional groups of TESOLs. The Director of Curriculum and Instruction will also encourage conference attendance offered by other presenters as they pertain to ENL students to assure fifty percent of their CTLE hours are effectively met for language acquisition.

Goal 3: School Violence Prevention and Intervention Training

Objective: All staff members will: be trained in the school violence prevention and intervention within the first two weeks of the 2018-19 school year, new teachers will receive instruction during New Teacher Training in Year 1, participate in required and other updated safety drills throughout the school year, be updated on all current needs throughout the school year, and be offered further opportunities to learn strategies for preventive intervention. One hundred percent of the staff will meet the NYS requirement for school violence and intervention training.

Activities and Strategies:

A districtwide safety team representing all stakeholders will meet quarterly to review and revise the following district documents: student code of conduct, district attendance policy administration procedures, districtwide safety plan, and building level safety plans.

At least annually the School District Resource Officer will meet with each building’s Building Emergency Response Team to review a menu of crisis situations, drill each scenario, and update and revise the Emergency Plans as needed. The school’s team and administration will train the school’s staff on each of the various situations and scenarios.

Each building principal ensures that annual updates are presented to students, parents and staff regarding behavioral expectations.

The required drills for lockdown and evacuation will occur in all buildings. Further, other safety drills will also be practiced, and a week-long safety program will be held during the first quarter of the year to assure that all student and staff members are well-versed on safety procedures and protocol.

All schools will promote mental health and wellness for students and staff members through a variety of avenues. Social-emotional health will be a priority.

The integration of social and problem-solving skills for students will occur in all classes.

All staff members will be afforded the opportunity to attend further trainings which will address warning signs for possible violence and strategies to intervene effectively.

Goal 4: Instruction with Personalized Learning

Objective: The district will provide all faculty and staff members professional development to support and increase content knowledge and instructional strategies as we progress with personalized learning.

Activities and Strategies:

All staff members will be trained on technological hardware (beyond the basics) and instructional software to demonstrate skillful use of a variety of classroom tools and instructional strategies as appropriate.

The district will provide opportunities for all faculty members to expand and improve content knowledge and instructional strategies.

Goal 5: Instructional Improvement Based on Synthesized Data

Objective: All staff members will be involved in the development, use, and interpretation of assessments and data to improve instruction and learning to maximize student achievement.

Activities and Strategies:

All staff members will have the opportunity to disaggregate data as well as create and use common assessments.

Staff members will meet by buildings and vertically across the district to determine the most important data points to incorporate when using data to impact instruction. Midterm and final assessments will be explored at all grade levels, K-12.

A district “Data Binder” will be created to provide ongoing evidence of success and pathways for improvement.

Data and information will be gathered from districts who accomplish high rates of success on state assessments and used to improve our own levels of success.

Objective: All faculty members in the district will be involved in curriculum development activities with the opportunity to further their knowledge and skills in the areas of ELA and math with vertical alignment incorporated.

Activities and Strategies:

All staff members will be afforded expanded opportunities to participate in job-embedded meeting times.

Grades K-6 will focus on a clear writing curriculum and strong, appropriate AIS support (with a focus on comprehension); continuing skills strand into MIS.

Objective: The school district staff and PCS communities will foster a culture of collaboration based on positive character.

Activities and Strategies:

All staff members will implement activities to promote positive character attributes with our students.

Building staffs will continue to implement character education initiatives.

New District Activities Added To Goals

The overall plan is similar to the 2017-2018 school year as it is difficult to accomplish all the activities/strategies in a year and the first three goals are state-mandated annually. The Phelps-Clifton Springs Central School District has added to new activities to the goals, such as:

Goal 1

All new staff members will be instructed on safety procedures and drills

Goal 2

The district will explore hiring a second translation service for ELLs

Goal 3

Building level safety teams will be formed and meet to discuss procedures, ideas and improvements

Substitute staff will also be informed of safety protocols and drills

Trauma-informed Schools training will continue, and mental health curricula will be updated

Social skills will be further developed in the elementary grades

Goal 4

iPad Pro training will occur for MS/HS staff

A tech integration plan to reach beyond the “pilot/generation” years will be formulated

Support staff will be offered training on hardware and software students are using in classes.

As new software is introduced, trainings will be offered at differentiated levels

Goal 5

Data and information will be gathered from other school districts who accomplish high rates of success on state assessments and be used to improve our levels of success (Eagle Project)

Addition of more benchmark data

A focus on data disaggregation to inform instruction K-12

Shared data discussions across buildings, vertically

Goal 6

Taking time to update to the next generation of learning standards

Focused learning walks within and outside of our district

Goal 7

The addition of a public relations person to share district news and events with the community

More trainings that dovetail social skills with trauma-informed schools and social-emotional needs of students

Giving character education a “boost” across the district to allow for vertical expectations and smooth transitions

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The Phelps-Clifton Springs Central School District will enable students to demonstrate college and career readiness by displaying: Strong Moral Character; Critical Thinking Skills; Perseverance; Cultural Awareness; and Innovation